Method of controlling weft ends in automatic looms



R. G. TURNER April 29, 1930.

METHOD OF CONTROLLING WEFT ENDS IN AUTOMATIC LOOMS Filed July 16 1928 l, wg

Patented Apr. 29, 1930 unirse stares RICHARD G. TURNERJ OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GROMPTON & KNOWLES LOOM VVORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS METHOD F CONTROLLING WEFT ENDS IN AUTOMATIC LOOMS Application led July 16,

This invention relates to improvements in the method of controlling the free ends of reserve bobbins on weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to enable a weaver to operate an automatic loom so as to dispense with the use of the ordinary thread holder.

In the type of loom set forth in my copending application Serial No. 79,479, filed January 5, 1926, I have shown a magazine providing a vertical stack of bobbins to cooperate with two transfer mechanisms one located above the other. The device shown in said application operates in conjunction with a double shuttle loom for weaving such fabrics as plush and the mechanism operates in such a way that the next to the bottom bobbin or the bobbin which lies intermediate the two shuttles when the latter are on the magazine side of the' loom, remains untransferred, the lower shuttle being replenished from the bottom bobbin and the upper shuttle being replenished from the second bobbin above the bottom bobbin.

It is necessary that the free end of a transferred bobbin be held to some relatively fixed point, otherwise weaving cannot start, and it is customary to lead the ends of the reserve bobbins to a so-called thread holder. It is an important object of my present invention to tie the ends of'adjacent bobbins to each other, preferably in pairs, and to have the transfers take place in such a way that one bobbin of a pair may remain in the magazine to cause the filling to be paid off the other bobbin when the latter is transferred into an exhausted shuttle. Under these conditions filling will extend from the adjacent selvage to the untransferred bobbin and when the latter is eventually transferred it will be already connected to the selvage so that its yarn will be paid off during thelirst j pick.

The mechanism set forth in the aforesaid application operates to weave a double cloth having upper and lower ground webs between which extend pile yarns. Each web is formed from its own set of warp threads and the webs are substantially independent, so that when the pile yarns are later cut two distinct 1928. Serial No. 293,223.

fabrics result. It is a further object of my invention to connect the ends of filling from reserve bobbins in such a way that should one bobbin be inserted in the shuttle for the upper web and the other bobbin be inserted in the shuttle for the lower web, the yarn from each bobbin will be drawn oif because of the fact that the bobbins pass through diEerent sheds.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth- Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the magazine and adjacent portion of the lay;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation taken along line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views showing the manner in which the tying of the weft ends of adjacent bobbins is made use of in eliminating the usual thread holder.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown certain'structure such as may be used to carry my method into effect including a loom frame and a lay 11. The loom frame may have mounted thereon a plate 12 in which is slidably mounted a pair of pushers or transferrer elements 13. Each of the latter is provided with an upstanding boss 14 which cooperates with a transferrer lever 15. A pair of tension springs 16 interposed between the rear end of the pusher or transferrer 13 and a stationary part of the plate 12 located at the forward end of the latter tend to hold the pusher in forward position with the lug 14 related ip the lever 15 substantially as suggested in ig. 1.V

Each pusher 13 is provided with a pair of bobbin engaging shoes or surfaces 17 and it is to be understood by reference to Fig. 3 that the'pushers 13 are spaced apart vertically.

A magazine 20 for reserve bobbins is fixed with respect to the loom frame 10 and has a guideway 21l for the tips' of the bobbins and a second guideway 22 for the heads or butts of the bobbins. The lowermost bobbin is supported by a shelf 23 formed preferably as part of the magazine.

The rear wallof the tip guide 21 is provided with a pair of slots 24 while the butt 22 is provided with corresponding slots 25. Said slots are disposed in such a position as to permit horizontal movement to the left as viewed in Fig. 3 of the lowest bobbin and the second bobbin thereabove under influence of the pushers or transferrers 13.

The lay 11 is provided with upper and lower shuttle boxes 30 and 31, respectively, which receive the shuttles S and S', respectively. The distance between the centers of said shuttles is approximately twice the diameter of a bobbin,` so that the first and third bobbins from the bottom may be transferred in a substantially horizontal direction into their respective shuttles.

The matter thus far described is substantially the same as that shown in my aforesaid application and I have shown herein only such portions of the structures set forth in said application as are necessary for an understanding of my present invention. My present method of controlling weft ends is not limited to double shuttle loom, but is illustrated inV connection with such a loom as it is more particularly usable on that type of loom.

In carrying my present invention into effect I aim to eliminate the ordinary thread holder which is customarily mounted on the outside of the magazine to have connected thereto the weft ends extending from all the reserve bobbins. Accordingly, I connect together as by tying the weft ends from the lowest pair of bobbins, 50 and 51. bobbin 50 being the lowest bobbin. In like manner I connect the weft ends of thesuperposed pairs, the second pair including bobbins 52 and 53 with bobbin 52 opposite the upper pusher 13. In similar' manner, the other bobbins of the magazine are connected together in pairs, one other pair being shown in Fig. 3 as composed of bobbins 54 and 55.

In the operation of my invention the lever 15 for either the upper or the lower pusher 13 will be controlled by and actuatedthrough mechanism not shown herein but dependent upon the condition of weft in the running shuttles. Then the weft in the upper shuttle S, for instance, becomes substantially depleted the upper lever 15 will move the corresponding pusher 13 to the left as viewed in lig.n 3 so that the second bobbin above the bottom bobbin, that is, bobbin 52, will move horizontally into the shuttle S. When the upper pusher is withdrawn bobbin 53 will fall a space equal to the diameter of one bobbin, but will remain in the magazine, so that as bobbin 52 moves into weaving action when shuttle S is picked, weft. will be drawn from said bobbin by reason of the connection between the weft ends of the two bobbins 52 and 53. Y

A corresponding and similar action takes place when the lowest bobbin 50 is trans' ferrcd into the shuttle S, but it will be noted that the second bobbin 51 is intermediate the shuttles S and S', and will therefore not be transferred and will remain in the magazine to cause the weft from the lowest bobbin to be drawn as shuttle S becomes active and passes through the lowest shed of the fabric being woven.

W hen transfer is taking place in the lower shuttle, bobbin 5() will move from the magazine to the dotted line position shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4. l/ihen the lower shuttle is picked through the shed formed by the lewer warp threads H weft from said shuttle 50 will be unwound because of the fact that bobbin 51 is at rest.

Later in the operation of the loom bobbin Y 51 will be transferred into the lower shuttle. At this time bobbin 51 will move out of the magazine to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5 and will then be carried across the loom to the dot and dash position shown at the leftof Fig. 5. The weft from bobbin 51 is connected to the fabric at the point where bobbin. 50 started weaving, so that weft will be unwound from bobbin 51 as is the case when an idle shuttle of a drop box loom becomes active.

Should bobbin 52 be transferred and the next transfer was that of bobbin 50, bobbin 53 would be in the intermediate position, and upon a subsequent transfer said bobbin 53 would be positioned to enter the lower shuttle, whereas its mate had previously entered the upper shuttle. The guides 21 and 22 do not extend across the yarn on the bobbins, so that the yarn connecting the bobbins 52 and 53 will not be interfered with by said guides. e

I have constructed the shuttle boxes as set forth particularly in Fig. 2 in order that they.7 may not break the filling. By referring to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the front wall of each shuttle box is provided with a passageway through which the tied weft ends may pass as the lay moves rearwardly after transfer.

Y 1While I have shown my invention in connection with adouble shuttle loom I do not wish to be limited to such a type of loom as it is apparent that certain rfeatures of my invention will operate satisfactorily if but one of the shuttles S or S be used. Furthermore, although I have shown the bobbin connected together in pairs yet I do not wish to be limited to this arrangement. I have shown herein certain structure which will enable those skilled in the art to practiceV the method set forth, but I make no claim to such structure, reserving the same for a separate application.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple method for permitting the operation of an automatic weft replenishing loom Without the use of a thread holder and it will further be seen that the method is usable on a double shuttleloom wherein the bobbins which are tied together pass through different sheds, the sheds differ-v ing either because they are connected with different Webs or being different sheds-in the formation of the same web.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

l. The method of controlling weft ends in a weft replenishing mechanism which consists in tying together the ends of weft extending from two reserve bobbins, and transferring one bobbin and leaving the other bobbin untransferred, the weft end of the untransferred bobbin resisting directly the pull of the weft Aof the transferred bobbin to cause the last named weft to be unwound as the bobbin attached thereto is picked.

2. The method of controlling weft ends in weft replenishing mechanisms which consists in providing a pair of bobbins which are movable together toward transfer position,

f tying together the ends of weft which extend from the bobbins, and placing one bobbin in weaving action and leaving the other out of weaving action, the weft end of the bobbin which is out of action resisting directly the pull of weft extending from the bobbin in action as the latter is picked,

3. The method of controlling weft ends in weft replenishing mechanisms which consists in providing a pair of weft carriers which are movable together toward transfer position, tying together the ends of weft which extend from the weft carriers, and placing one weft carrier in weaving action and having the other out of weaving action, the weft end of the weft carrier which is out of action resisting directly the pull of the end extending from the bobbin in action as the latter is picked.

4. The method of controlling weft ends in a weft replenishing loom which consists in providing a plurality of weft carriers, tying together the ends of weft which extend from the carriers, and placing one of the carriers into weaving action and leaving the remainder of the carriers out of weaving action, the weft of the carrier in action being unwound from the latter as the same moves into weaving action because said weft is secured to the inactive remainder of the carriers, said remainder of the carriers resisting directly the pull of the weft ofthe active carrier.

5. The method of controlling weft ends for two transferring operations of a weft replenishing mechanism which consists in tying together the ends of weft extending from two reserve bobbins, transferring one bobbin and leaving the other bobbin untransferred, thc weft end of the untransferred bobbin resisting directly the pull of the weft of the first bobbin to be transferred to cause unwinding as the latter is picked, and subsequently transferring the other bobbin, the weft of saidr other bobbin having previously been connected to the cloth immediately subsequent to the transfer of the first bobbin.

6. The method of controlling weft ends for two transferring operations of a weft replenishing mechanism which consists in tying together the ends of weft extending from two reserve bobbins, transferring one bobbin and leaving the other bobbin untransferred, the weft end of the untransferred bobbin resisting directly the pull of the weft of the transferred bobbin to cause unwinding as the latter is picked,` acting on the tied ends to secure them to the cloth being woven, and subsequently transferring the other bobbin, the weft therefrom having previously been connected to the cloth being woven.

7. The method of controlling weft ends in a weft replenishing mechanism which consists inv tying together the weft ends of two bobbins, providing guideways along which the bobbins and weft ends move toward transfer position, and transferring one of the bobbins and leaving the other to act as a thread holder for the transferred bobbin.

8. The method of controlling weft ends in a weft replenishing mechanism which consists in forming a knot between the weft ends of two bobbins, providing a guideway along which the bobbins and knot move towar transfer position, and transferring one of the bobbins and leaving the other to act as a thread holder for the transferred bobbin.

9. The method of controlling weft ends in a weft replenishing mechanism which consists in forming a knot with the weft ends of two bobbins and loca-ting the knot between the bobbins, providing a guide along which the bobbins and knot move toward transfer position, and transferring one of the bobbins and leaving the other to act as a thread holder sists in providing a pair of bobbins with their weft ends connected together so that one hobbin Will act as a thread holder for the other When said other is transferred.

12. In a weft replenishing mechanism, a guideway along which bohbins move toward transfer position, and transferring mechanism to move a bohbin out of the guide to be transferred, each pair of hobbins having the weft ends thereof tied together to form a knot which moves with the bohbins.

13. In a weft replenishing mechanism, a guideway along which bohhins move in groups, each group having a plurality of bohbins, transferring mechanism to move a hobhin out of the guideway to be transferred, the weft ends of each group being secured together in a knot 'Which moves With the group toward transfer position.

14. In a weft replenishing mechanism, a pair of bohbins With their weft ends connected together so that one hobhin Will act as a thread holder for the other When said other is transferred.

15. In a weft replenishing loom operating with a shuttle to receive a supply of weft, a reserve supply of Weft capable of being introduced into the shuttle, and a weft end eX- tending from the reserve supply of weft to the cloth selvage during the normal running of the loom and eective when the reserve supply is introduced into the shuttle to assist in threading the latter.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

RICHARD Gr. TURNER. 

